Baggage

The Yardbird Suite (11 Tommy Banks Way), August 13, 16-19, 22

Baggage at Edmonton Fringe. Photo credit Nicole Zylstra

An interview with Trevor Campbell.

Describe your show in five words.
Inspiring funny true medical stories

Okay, now that we’re intrigued… what’s the longer description?
Born with a nonfunctioning bladder, a new option had to be installed, a urostomy pouch. So this show is about years of hiding it, revealing it when you have to, like for a new lover, and coming to grips with the alienation a deciding maybe it’s time to stop hiding

Having worn a Urostomy pouch since you were 5, I imagine you had quite the bank of stories to draw from. How did you go about choosing which anecdotes to draw from to create this show?
There are not a lot of crazy stories like doing tequila shots out of my bag or anything. The stories were chosen to reveal the person I am and how I and all of us, need to live our lives based on who we are and not on what we have attached to us.

Your show is intensely personal – what made it the right time for you to create and perform this show?
I realized I wanted to be able to dance with my shirt off at an outdoor festival and I thought I’d just tell everyone what the bag is and how it works rather than one at a time.

While your show involves a specific medical condition, what do you hope all audiences take away from it?
I hope that someone with any body issues brought on by a medical condition leaves deciding to be a little more comfortable with themselves and anyone else to understand the alienation it causes. I’m the poster boy for “ah screw it, who cares”.

Anything else you want audiences to know about the show?
I’m hoping it’s inspiring but it’s a lot of fun along the way too. You will get to see Christopher Walken explain the genius of the cartoon strip Garfield!!

The 34th Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival is August 13 – 23. Get your tickets at tickets.fringetheatre.ca starting August 4.